Hi and thanks for visiting the best Ravens forum on the planet. You do not have to be a member to browse the various forums, but in order to post and interact with your purple brethren, you will have to **register**. It only takes a couple of minutes. You can also use your Facebook account to log in....just click on the blue 'FConnect' link at the very top of the page.

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

A slam dunk from Sir Charles ...

Use this as your link ... bit.ly/12PQMnV

WARNING: This post may contain material offensive to those who lack wit, humor, common sense and/or supporting factual or anecdotal evidence. All statements and assertions contained herein may be subject to literary devices not limited to: irony, metaphor, allusion and dripping sarcasm.

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

I haven’t touched on the Trayvon Martin issue because race matters in this country are the paralysis of the American people. To constructively discuss Trayvon would require empathy, introspection and an understanding of America’s social and economic history. This is why the open forums we have seen thus far seem to fuel more ignorance and bias than reasonable debate.

To be brutally honest, the only reason people are even aware of Trayvon Martin is because it became a topic within mainstream news and pop culture. Meaning: News directors saw it as a profitable, sensational story. Hundreds of blacks die annually in South Side Chicago without even a blurb. Trayvon isn’t in the mainstream news for any reason other than ratings and profit. The news coverage on the Zimmerman case almost implies that the killing of this young black man is somehow an anomaly and I resent that.

In this country, if it isn’t streamlined through mainstream media and pop culture, it doesn’t seem to warrant national debate. Our “government” continues to wreak havoc on our civil liberties and there is little to no protest from the black community because of media diversion tactics that keep such pertinent issues out of mainstream media. But if Jay-Z or Rihanna were to make mention of it, we’d suddenly be jolted out of our sugar comas and protesting on freeways.

My point being, people are up in arms about Trayvon based on regurgitated pundits and manipulated facts aired to elicit emotion while fueling America’s anger and division. That’s how you boost ratings. No different from Piers Morgan’s desperate rant over gun control when he knew his ratings were in the dumps. And from where I stand, anyone who still relies on corporate-owned media pundits to support an argument isn’t equipped to offer worthwhile solutions.

People are using Trayvon Martin’s death as an excuse to project their own deep-seated issues with racism and will not be capable of intelligent, empathetic debate until they’ve cooled down and afforded themselves an education.
Addressing Trayvon without first addressing the absence of critical thinking in our schools, the lack of introspection, the reasons for our low tolerance and our country’s skewed value system does nothing more than create a sounding board for the ignorant. So rather than facilitate more racism outcry, I’d like to address young black people specifically.

I believe we lost that trial for Trayvon long before he was killed. Trayvon was doomed the moment ignorance became synonymous with young black America . We lost that case by using media outlets (music, movies, social media, etc.) as vehicles to perpetuate the same negative images and social issues that destroyed the black community in the first place. When we went on record glorifying violent crime and when we voted for a president we never thought to hold accountable. When we signed on to do reality shows that fed into the media’s stereotypes of black men, we ingrained an image of Trayvon Martin so overwhelming that who he actually may have been didn’t matter anymore.

Don’t you find it peculiar that the same media outlets who have worked so diligently to galvanize the negative stigmas of black men in America are now airing open debates on improving the image of black males in American media? Do you honestly think CNN is using their competitive time slots for philanthropy?

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” – Rahm Emanuel

If we really wanted to ensure Trayvon Martin’s killing was not in vain, we’d stop perpetuating negative images that are now synonymous with black men in America. We’d stop rapping about selling drugs and killing niggas. The next time we saw a man beating a woman, we’d call for help or break it up, but one thing we would not do is stand by with our cellphones out — yelling WORLDSTAR! Instead of rewarding kids for memorization, we’d reward them for independent and critical thinking.

We’d spend less time subconsciously repeating lyrics about death and murder and more time understanding why we are so willing to twerk to songs that bemean women and boast of having things we cannot afford. We’d set examples of self-love for our youth by honoring our own hair, skin and eye color. We’d stop spending money on designer gear that we should be spending on our physical and psychological health. We’d seek information outside the corporate owned-media that manipulates us. We’d stop letting television babysit our kids and we’d quit regurgitating pundits we haven’t come up with on our own.

Education, introspection, self-love and excellence are the only ways to overcome the wrath of ignorance. So before going back to popping molly and getting Turnt Up, I urge you to consider the implications of your actions. Your child’s life may depend on it.

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

What Romany said goes far beyond just blacks. The whole country is subversive to big media because we have the attention span of terrier on a caffeine binge. That's why I rolled my eyes when all these celebrities twitted about the outcome of the trial. None of them bothered to watch a single second of the trial, yet all felt it necessary to say what a travesty the non-guilty verdict was.

The real tragedy is that Trevon Martin was raised in an environment where he felt it perfectly alright to try to attack a stranger.

"A moron, a rapist, and a Pittsburgh Steeler walk into a bar. He sits down and says, “Hi I’m Ben may I have a drink please?”
ProFootballMock

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

What's going to sell more papers: A Christian like me who says, "Eh, gays can do whatever they want" or supposed christian like Phelps saying "We're all going to hell because those two men kissed!"

Exactly. In my area, there are numerous Episcopal churches flying rainbow flags and posting messages of support for the gay community. They don't make the news, it's the ones making a ruckus that make the news.

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

George helped rescued a family of four from an overturned truck, according to multiple news outlets.

WARNING: This post may contain material offensive to those who lack wit, humor, common sense and/or supporting factual or anecdotal evidence. All statements and assertions contained herein may be subject to literary devices not limited to: irony, metaphor, allusion and dripping sarcasm.

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

Originally Posted by wickedsolo

We can thank standardized testing for that mess.

Bush's "no child left behind" act was a terrible idea and should've been repelled after the first year. Our last two presidents have passed huge, over-reaching laws that have completely screwed the people they were supposed to be helping.

"A moron, a rapist, and a Pittsburgh Steeler walk into a bar. He sits down and says, “Hi I’m Ben may I have a drink please?”
ProFootballMock

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

George helped rescued a family of four from an overturned truck, according to multiple news outlets.

It's good to hear things like this, but I also hope at some point, he reaches out to Martin's family and personally expresses his remorse at what happened to Trayvon. He may not be found guilty of any crime, but his brother said he's remorseful that it had to end in Trayvon's death, and to me at least, it would go a long way to showing that he's sincere about that.

Maybe he did before the trial and I missed it?

.
.
“When I think of a Baltimore Raven - we go in there, we take your lunch box, we take your sandwich, we take your juice box, we take your applesauce, and we take your spork and we break it. And we leave you with an empty lunch. That’s the Baltimore Raven way.” - Steve Smith Sr.

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

Originally Posted by RavenScallywag

It's good to hear things like this, but I also hope at some point, he reaches out to Martin's family and personally expresses his remorse at what happened to Trayvon. He may not be found guilty of any crime, but his brother said he's remorseful that it had to end in Trayvon's death, and to me at least, it would go a long way to showing that he's sincere about that.

Maybe he did before the trial and I missed it?

He tried, and not that I blame the family but I don't think the apology was accepted.

We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. - Benjamin Franklin

Mt. Arrogance in the middle of the .11 rolling acres of The Windbag Estates

Posts

4,492

Re: George Zimmerman Trial

Originally Posted by darb72

It's the "vocal minority" that always gets the press.

What's going to sell more papers: A Christian like me who says, "Eh, gays can do whatever they want" or supposed christian like Phelps saying "We're all going to hell because those two men kissed!"

Christians shouldn't judge non-Christians in this manner. Phelps, like me, is still sinning. So are homosexuals. Whatever Phelps sins are they are no better than gay sex, but Phelps is the one who claims to be a Christian and thus should be worrying about the plank in his own eye instead of the speck in some other's eye.

We should expect non-believers to commit sins, Christians do! We should be worrying about the sin going on with our fellow Christians and be calling them out on that and not living out the Gospel, such as caring for the poor, etc. I wonder when the last time Phelps was on an AIDS mission trip in Africa?